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Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Mnemovore

Mnemonic (ni-mon’ik) adj. pert. to or assisting the memory. --n. an aid in remembering. --mnemonically, adv. --mnemonics, n.sing. A technique for improving the memory.

Mnemovore (ne-mov’or) n. comic book mini-series created by Hans Rodionoff, Ray Fawkes and Mike Huddleston, published by Vertigo/DC. --v. to scare the crap out of you.

The six issue mini-series Mnemovore is a scary little number, probably the most unnerving comic I’ve read in recent memory. Heh. The story follows Kaley as she recuperates from a skiing accident, whereupon she has trouble remembering things from her past, like say, anybody from it. As the series progresses, we begin to discover that things aren’t exactly what they seem. There’s something there, at the periphery of the story, at the edge of her memory…and that something has been playing with her memory and is creeping into the lives of those around her, making people forget things, making people go a little insane. The series creators do a great job of creating an atmosphere that sets its readers on edge, and make us feel the effects of the memory loss through the book, as we are subjected to shocking revelations, as well as things that happen artistically, like pictures fading or missing, or words absent from word balloons. You’re right there with the character, experiencing the action through your reading. It’s a really disturbing book, really unsettling, and it’s one of the damn finest horror comics out there. I doubt that its puny sales have warranted a trade collection of the book, but this Halloween, do yourself a favor and track down these issues, nestle down in a lonely dark room, and succumb to fear.